Wednesday, December 28, 2011

We have a new art class beginning on Monday, January 9th that I am very very excited about. Lado Pochkhua, an accomplished classically trained artist from Eastern Europe (see following bio) and artist in residence at our sister space Proteus Gowanus will, using a variety of artifacts drawn from The Morbid Anatomy Library, teach students to create and draw their own “vanitas”--or mortality-themed still life--compositions. The main star of said Vanitas composition will be the genuine human skeleton recently donated to the library, which you can see in the photograph above.

Full details follow; this is sure to be a awfully terrific class. Hope very much to see you there!

Vanitas Drawing Class with Classically Trained Artist Lado PochkhuaDate: 6 Mondays, January 9th through February 13th(Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 & Feb. 13)Time: 7:30-10:00 PMAdmission: $110 (classes can also be taken individually on a drop-in basis for $20 per class)*** This class has a 10 person size limit; Please RSVP for full course at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com This class is part of the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

Vanitas is a genre of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. A vanitas painting contains collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures, exhorting the viewer to consider mortality and to repent.

This Vanitas course will comprise six drawing lessons in which, using artifacts drawn from The Morbid Anatomy Library, students will learn how to create and draw their own “vanitas” composition. The ultimate goal of the class will be not only the creation of this particular drawing, but also understanding of the principles of classical drawing. The instructor will also share historical images throughout the course.

No previous drawing experience necessary; all levels are welcome!

MATERIALSPlease bring with you to class:

One drawing pad at least 18" X 20" with a firm back; paper Fabriano or Arches, or Strathmore 400

Pencil: HB, 2B, 4B, simple graphite pencils, (no charcoal !!!)

Eraser

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORLado Pochkhuawas born in Sukhumi, Georgia in 1970. He received his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Tbilisi State Art Academy in Georgia in 2001. He currently divides his time between New York and Tbilisi, Georgia.

There is a 10 person limit for this class; you can sign up by sending an email to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com. This class is one of the newest installments in the series newly termed The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy; to find out more about that--including a full class list thus far--click here.

Images: Top image: Still-Life with a Skull, "Vanitas" by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674) via Wikimedia; Bottom image: Skeleton from The Morbid Anatomy Library who will be featured in our Vanitas compositions

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Insects' Christmas (1913)Rozhdestvo obitateley lesa (original title)A Father Christmas ornament climbs down from a decorated tree, and goes to the forest. There he creates and decorates a Christmas tree for the forest creatures. He then invites all the insects, along with a friendly frog, to come and enjoy the gifts he has prepared, and to celebrate Christmas. Written by Snow Leopard

Monday, December 19, 2011

Episode eight of The Midnight Archive--the web-based documentary series centered aroundObservatory--has just been uploaded and can be viewed above. This episode is one I am personally very excited about; it is based on the work of my all-time favorite rogue-scholar Mel Gordon, specifically on his research into The Grand Guignol as explored in his classic Grand Guiginol: Theatre of Fear and Terror. It was shot in The Morbid Anatomy Library the night of his recent Observatory lecture on the same topic and features dozens of amazing images and even film footage (!!!) of a circa 1960s Grand Guignol performance, as well as a fascinating conversation with Mel Gordon. Check it out (highly recommended!) by hitting play above, or by clicking here.

Film maker Ronni Thomas--the creator of The Midnight Archive--has this to say about The Grand Guignol:

I have to admit - before i began this whole thing - i had no idea what the Grand Guignol theater was... I was raised on a magnificent diet of blood and gore as a kid. (For Christ's sake - i gave up my career as an adjunct professor to work for less than minimum wage at Troma films...) But - as always - the unsung bastard of this artform was a sleazy theatre in paris where eyes were gouged out - faces were burnt off - and torturous agony was displayed before some of the wealthiest and most affluent aristocrats while visiting the fabulous city of blights... (lights). In this episode - Mel Gordon - the man who LITERALLY wrote the book on the Grand Guignol gives us a brief explanation of what it was and what it meant to society, the world and all those other things i could care less about... I knew nothing about the theater before i started this as i've stated - and i've learned about 3 minutes more than that as i hope you will... enjoy... and please consider chopping up your neighbor as a fun tribute.

For more on the series, to see former episodes, or to sign up for the mailing list so as to be alerted to future uploads, visit The Midnight Archive website by clicking here. You can also "like" it on Facebook--and thus be alerted--by clicking here.

The Missing Dimension: A Cultural History of 3D Images - Anaglyphs, Stereographs, View-Masters, Holograms, and Flaming Arrows Coming Right at You!Illustrated lecture on and in 3D (glasses provided) by artist and NYU Professor Chris MullerDate: TONIGHT Tuesday, December 13thTime: 8:00Admission: $5Presented by Morbid Anatomy

An overview of the development of three-dimensional images, from the first recognition of the stereoscopic function of our two eyes in ancient times, to Charles Wheatstone's explanation of binocular vision and his creation of the stereoscope in 1838, and the flood of three dimensional images that followed the invention of photography. We'll look at the stereograph viewer developed by Oliver Wendell Holmes that was in every Victorian parlor, the View-Master in every baby boomer's childhood bedroom, red and green anaglyph printing that allowed comic book characters to pop off the page, and the strange story of the development of 3D film. The unique pleasures of the 3D image will be celebrated, and its persistent failure to become the Next Step in photography and film discussed. The lecture will be illustrated entirely and gratuitously in 3D, with glasses provided to all comers.

Chris Muller is an artist and exhibit designer based in Brooklyn. He has designed exhibits for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum for African Art, the Children's Museum of Manhattan, and many others. He has designed sets for Laurie Anderson, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company, and others. He teaches drawing and digital painting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Image: Image by Chris Muller

“Oddities” Marathon and Season Launch PartyScreening of TV's "Oddities" followed by after party with MC Lord Whimsy, giveaways, special drinks, and DJDate: Saturday, December 17thTime: 8:00Admission: $8Presented by Morbid Anatomy

On Saturday, December 17th, you are cordially invited to join Morbid Anatomy and Observatory as we gather to celebrate the new season launch of "Oddities," that unlikely hit of a television series based on our favorite purveyor of curious and amazing artifacts, Obscura Antiques and Oddities in New York City's East village.

The evenings festivities will include the screening of several new episodes of "Oddities," special drinks and music by Friese Undine, and give-ways by Kikkerland and Obscura Antiques. The always charming Lord Whimsy will oversee the evening in his role of Master of Ceremonies, and members of the cast of "Oddities" will be on hand for questions and comments.

Please join us on December 17th and 18th for a holiday fair presented in conjunction with partner spaces Proteus Gowanus and Morbid Anatomy. Here you will find such covetables as steampunk jewlery, anatomical blocks, macabre drawings, ceramic reliquary bat heads, wet specimens, photographs, and books, books and more books, all to music DJed by Lado Pochkhua and washed down with beer provided by our sponsor Brooklyn Brewery. This will be the perfect place to purchase unique, niche, and off-the-beaten-path gifts for those hard-to-please folks on your shopping list! Hope to see you there.

Image: Crocheted Skulls by Dewey Decimal Crafts, a featured seller at last year's fair. More of her work can be found here.

Monday, December 12, 2011

This weekend, why not come by The Morbid Anatomy Library for the second annual Morbid Anatomy and Observatory Second Annual Holiday Fair? Just a few things you will find here: anatomical blocks, macabre drawings, taxidermy, tableaux, ceramic reliquary bat heads, wet specimens, photographs, tons of books, and much, much more! You will also find free beer complements of our sponsor Brooklyn Brewery.

Please join us on December 17th and 18th for a holiday fair presented in conjunction with partner spaces Proteus Gowanus and Observatory. Here you will find such covetables as steampunk jewelry, anatomical blocks, macabre drawings, ceramic reliquary bat heads, wet specimens, photographs, and books, books and more books, all to music DJed by Lado Pochkhua and washed down with beer provided by our sponsor Brooklyn Brewery. This will be the perfect place to purchase unique, niche, and off-the-beaten-path gifts for those hard-to-please folks on your shopping list! Hope to see you there.

For directions, click here. To see some press coverage of the fair, click here, here, and here.

Image: Crocheted Skulls by Dewey Decimal Crafts, a featured seller at last year's fair. More of her work can be found here.

NEW YORK CITY -- When the rides stop running at Coney Island each year in October, the area takes on a desolate and decidedly creepy character. That's all fine and well with the Coney Island Museum, which on Saturday night hosted the Grand Guignol Variety Show, an homage to the eponymous Parisian production that specialized in theatrical gore, sex and violence from 1897 to 1962.

The event, co-sponsored by the Morbid Anatomy Library and Atlas Obscura, featured two original plays from the Grand Guignol's golden era. They give a sense of what the theater was like in its heyday: In one, a spurned woman mutilates her former fiance with sulphuric acid, only to meet the same fate at his hand. In another, a man's unrequited love for the wife of his closest friend drives him to cast a hypnotist's spell on her. When she's tragically killed in a train crash, the spell's power remains. Disfigured and grotesque, she returns from beyond the grave to be at his side. Horrified, he kills himself...--"Coney Island Museum Hosts Creepy Homage To Victorian Horror Theater," The Huffington Post, Rachel Tepper

Read the whole article--a review of Saturday's Grand Guingol Variety Show--in today's Huffington Post by clicking here. Please be indulgent when you read my quotes, keeping in mind that it was my birthday and I had had a few drinks by the time this interview took place...

All images are from the slide-show linked to the article and depict, from top to bottom:

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Thanks so very very much to all you who came out to either a) perform in, or b) attend last night's amazing Grand Guignol Spectacular. It was very truly the best birthday ever, and I am still reeling from how many amazing performances I saw, and how many delicious drinks I partook of. Next year, someone simply must do a cover of this under-known Muppet Show segment from 1978, written by Shel Silverstein (!!!) and sung by Marisa Berenson, my favorite when I was a little girl, included above for your convenience.

From turn-of-the-century Paris through the 1960s, the Theatre of the Grand Guignol gleefully celebrated horror, sex, and fear with infamous productions featuring innocent victims, mangled beauty, insanity, mutilation, humour, sex, and monstrous depravity in a heady mix that attracted throngs of thrill-seekers from all echelons of society, making it the progenitor of today’s blood-spilling, eye-gouging, and limb-hacking “splatter” films.

Show off your moose head, snake skeleton, rabbit relics, and other amazing specimens. Compete for prizes and glory. Share your taxidermy (and its tale) with the world.

The contest will be judged by our panel of savage taxidermy enthusiasts, including Robert Marbury of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists and feline wrangler Dorian Devins, co-founder and curator of the Secret Science Club.

This fiercely special edition of the Secret Science Club meets Friday, December 9 @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th St. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. $7 cover.

Image: Mouse Taxidermist, student work from our popular Anthropomorphic Taxidermy class. More photos here; more on the class here.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

This Sunday--December 11th--the Morbid Anatomy Library (seen above) will be hosting open, no-appointment-necessary drop in hours from 2 until 6 PM. So feel free to drop in for a perusal of the stacks and to meet our latest addition.

For more about the Morbid Anatomy Library and for directions and other such information, click here.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Tomorrow night at Observatory! Be sure to arrive early, as this one is sure to sell out! Above are a few more of the hundreds of images that will be discussed.

Full details follow; hope to see you there!

Photographing the Dead: The History of Postmortem Photography from The Burns Collection and ArchiveIllustrated Lecture and book signing with Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS of the Burns Collection and ArchiveDate: Monday, December 5thTime: 8:00Admission: $5Presented by Morbid Anatomy*** Books will be available for sale and signing; see bottom of this page for complete list of books available

Postmortem photography, photographing a deceased person, was a common practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These photographs, from the beginning of the practice until now, are special mementos that hold deep meaning for mourners through visually "embalming" the dead. Although postmortem photographs make up the largest group of nineteenth-century American genre photographs, until recent years they were largely unseen and unknown. Dr. Burns recognized the importance of this phenomenon in his early collecting when he bought his first postmortem photographs in 1976. Since that time he has amassed the most comprehensive collection of postmortem photography in the world and has curated several exhibits and published three books on the subject: the Sleeping Beauty series. Tonight, Dr. Burns will speak about the practice of postmortem photography from the 19th century until today and share hundreds of images from his collection.

About Sleeping Beauty: Dr. Burns’ first book on postmortem photography, Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America (1990) has been widely recognized as one of the most important photography books of all time. Sleeping Beauty has influenced an eclectic array of fields, from bereavement counseling and education to cultural anthropology, history, medicine, philosophy, religion and spirituality (not to mention pop music) and has been cited in debates on the death penalty, euthanasia and abortion. It has been the subject of numerous scholarly papers as well as seminars and exhibitions at notable institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The New Museum of Contemporary Art. A decade later the Archive published Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement & The Family in Memorial Photography American & European Traditions in conjunction with an exhibit at the Musée d’Orsay. Sleeping Beauty III Memorial Photography: The Children, the third installment in this series was released this year to accompany a traveling exhibition.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Hi all! We are currently seeking a few volunteers to help with next Saturday's Grand Guignol Spectacular at The Coney Island Museum. We need a couple of folks to help with scene transitions during the show, and an experienced stage manager to help for the day of the show. All volunteers, of course, will be rewardd with free admission to the event!

Image: From a Life Magazine story circa 1947 about the Grand Guignol entitled "Sick! A House of Horrors." More on that here. Caption reads: "Realistic throat-cutting, performed in The Hussy by honest farm lad on his depraved, scheming wife, is achieved by a trick dagger which contains 'blood' in the handle."

Friday, December 2, 2011

Tickets for my Grand Guignol Birthday Spectacular on December 10th at The Coney Island Museum are now available for purchase here. And, just to whet your whistle, I post above a sketch of the specially commissioned set by NYU’s Chris Muller which will frame this unforgettable evening of "Victorian Variety, Macabre Merriment, and Horror Live on Stage" (click on image to see larger, more detailed version.) If you are interested in attending, we urge you to to purchase tickets soon, as they are sure to sell out!

From turn-of-the-century Paris through the 1960s, the Theatre of the Grand Guignol gleefully celebrated horror, sex, and fear with infamous productions featuring innocent victims, mangled beauty, insanity, mutilation, humour, sex, and monstrous depravity in a heady mix that attracted throngs of thrill-seekers from all echelons of society, making it the progenitor of today’s blood-spilling, eye-gouging, and limb-hacking “splatter” films.